5. But some Jews were jealous and gathered worthless loafers from the streets and formed a mob. They set the whole city in an uproar and attacked the home of a man called Jason, in an attempt to find Paul and Silas and bring them out to the people.
6. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city authorities and shouted, “These men have caused trouble everywhere! Now they have come to our city,
7. and Jason has kept them in his house. They are all breaking the laws of the Emperor, saying that there is another king, whose name is Jesus.”
8. With these words they threw the crowd and the city authorities into an uproar.
9. The authorities made Jason and the others pay the required amount of money to be released, and then let them go.
10. As soon as night came, the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the synagogue.
11. The people there were more open-minded than the people in Thessalonica. They listened to the message with great eagerness, and every day they studied the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was really true.
12. Many of them believed; and many Greek women of high social standing and many Greek men also believed.
13. But when the Jews in Thessalonica heard that Paul had preached the word of God in Berea also, they came there and started exciting and stirring up the mob.
14. At once the believers sent Paul away to the coast; but both Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.
15. The men who were taking Paul went with him as far as Athens and then returned to Berea with instructions from Paul that Silas and Timothy should join him as soon as possible.
16. While Paul was waiting in Athens for Silas and Timothy, he was greatly upset when he noticed how full of idols the city was.
17. So he held discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentiles who worshipped God, and also in the public square every day with the people who happened to pass by.
18. Certain Epicurean and Stoic teachers also debated with him. Some of them asked, “What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?”Others answered, “He seems to be talking about foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching about Jesus and the resurrection.
19. So they took Paul, brought him before the city council, the Areopagus, and said, “We would like to know what this new teaching is that you are talking about.
20. Some of the things we hear you say sound strange to us, and we would like to know what they mean.”
21. (For all the citizens of Athens and the foreigners who lived there liked to spend all their time telling and hearing the latest new thing.)